“Woman With a Cascade of White Flowers in Her Hair”
/Lewis Dowe’s Portrait Photograph of “Woman With a Cascade of White Flowers in her hair”
THE PHOTOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:
LEWIS DOWE was born in 1838 in Hanover, New Hampshire and died in 1919 in Portland, Oregon. He arrived in Petaluma in September of 1875 and set up his photography studio in the rooms formerly occupied by photographer Hugh Anderson. Dowe worked in Petaluma as both a “view” and portrait photographer until he departed the town in March of 1882. (For additional information on this photographer and to view all portraits by him in the collection, click on his name in blue above.)
THE SITTER:
Name: Unidentified
Description: In this head-and-shoulders portrait, a round-faced woman glances with heavy eyelids to her right. Adorning the left side of her head is a cascade of white flowers. She also wears a bouquet of white flowers attached to her white, lace, neck scarf.
Biographical Note:
Family Affiliation: This portrait remains, as donated to the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, in the McCleave Family Album.
Bibliography:
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size: cabinet card
Medium: albumen photographic print mounted on cardstock
Description, front: Lewis Dowe’s imprint in the form of his signature appears on the bottom left edge, and along the bottom right edge is printed, “Petaluma, Cal”.
Description, back: The back of this card contains a date stamp in the lower right hand corner “Jun 1881”.
Date: June 1881
Condition: This card is slightly soiled.
Owner: Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 2004-315-02-p24-p17, McCleave Family Album.
Reproduction rights: The Petaluma Museum Association makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to the digitized images here reproduced. These images are intended for personal or research use only. Any other kind of use, including, but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the Association. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.